asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he can state the number of labourers who migrated annually from the Counties of Mayo and Donegal to England, Scotland and Wales, in search of seasonal employment in the years 1927, 1928, 1929.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Migratory Labourers from Mayo and Donegal.
Statistics of the numbers of migratory labourers leaving their home districts for seasonal employment elsewhere were collected by the police concurrently with the annual returns of crops and live stock up to the year 1915. The last report, for 1915, stated that accurate returns of the numbers of agricultural migrants were not available and that the estimates given in the report were believed to be roughly approximate. As returns had been becoming more and more unreliable they were discontinued in 1916 and have not been collected since.